How to write_the_scientific_report.ppt_2

Dr. Sooad K. Al-Daihan
Biochemistry Department
How to Write the Scientific Report

Why do we write research reports
 You did an experiment or study for your science class, and
now you have to write it up for your teacher to review. You
feel that you understood the background sufficiently.
 But how exactly do you write all that?
 What is your teacher/reviewer expecting to see?
 your writing will likely meet the expectations of your
audience-including your teacher.

• Main points to be considered:
 Generally speaking, people investigating some scientific
hypothesis have a responsibility to the rest of the scientific
world to report their findings, particularly if these findings
add to or contradict previous ideas.
 People reading such reports have two primary goals:
i. They want to gather the information presented.
ii. They want to know that the findings are legitimate.
Your job as a writer, then, is to fulfill these two goals.

Communicate clearly and answer the key
questions
 At the student level, your main goal for a lab report
should be to communicate clearly to your instructor what
you did and observed in your study (or experiment), as
well as what the results mean.

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 Some of the key questions an instructor might ask you in
determining your level of understanding include:
 Do you have a clearly stated objective or hypothesis?
 Do you present the data in a clear and concise fashion?
 Are you able to interpret the results of the study?
 Can you account for any discrepancies in your results?
 Do you present a thoughtful conclusion?
 Do you understand the overall relevance of the findings from the
study?
 The lab report answers such questions in a formal and structured
way.

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 You will usually follow the following sequence in actually writing
your lab report, but note that the abstract (if you include it) will
come first among these elements in the final report:
Abstract
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
References
Appendix

So…
 A report is a clearly structured document that presents
information about an investigation that you have
undertaken.
 The clear structure allows specific parts of that
information to be easily located by the reader.

Reports types
There are many different types of reports. At university, however,
the most common types of report you may be asked to write are:
1. Analytical report.
2. Practical report.
3. Progress report.

Focus on investigations into events, organizations, situations & issues.
 Provide the reader with information that can be used to make decisions and
take further action.
 Common in the social sciences, business courses, and engineering
give an account of what has happened in a practical session or as part of an experiment.
They are common in science-based courses.
Scientific reports
Analytical reports
Assessment that takes place during a project or process, that conveys details such as
what sub-goals have been accomplished, what resources have been expended,
what problems have been encountered, and whether the project or process is
expected to be completed on time and within budget.
Progress reports

What ever report type you want to
!!write……You have to remember
 The most important rule to remember when writing a paper is to
follow the instructions your teacher provides.
 Teachers always have the prerogative to decide what rules,
formats, or procedures they prefer for any report.
 so the teacher’s guidelines for any assignment will overrule
instructions you find on the Internet or in a style guide.

Continue...
 Use supporting details.
 Use your opinions wisely and appropriately.
 Avoid absolute statements.
 Do not misuse scientific terms: like "variable“ and
"significant result”.

Lets start our trip in the report
contents..

 The basic format scientists have designed for research reports:
 Introduction
 Methods and Materials
 Results
 Discussion
 This format, sometimes called “IMRAD” may take slightly
different shapes depending on the discipline or audience; some ask
you to include an abstract or separate section for the hypothesis,
or call the Discussion section “Conclusions,” or change the order
of the sections
 However, the IMRAD format was devised to represent a textual
version of the scientific method.

As well as…Scientific method stepSection
Explains how you derived that hypothesis
and how it connects to previous research;
gives the purpose of the experiment/study.
states your hypothesisIntroduction
Clarifies why you performed your study in
that particular way.
details how you tested
your hypothesis
Methods
Expresses the data in table form, as an
easy-to-read figure, or as percentages/ratios.
provides raw (i.e.,
Uninterpreted ) data collected
Results
Explores the implications of your finding
and judges the potential limitations of your
experimental design.
considers whether the data
you obtained support the
hypothesis
Discussion
Table: 1 shows how each written section fits into the scientific method and what
additional information it offers the reader.

What should I do before drafting the lab
report?
 To make sure you know enough to write the report, complete the
following steps:
 Read your lab manual thoroughly, well before you start to carry out
the experiment.
 Make use of your lab supervisor as you perform the lab.
 Plan the steps of the experiment carefully.
 Record the data carefully so you get them right.
 Consider your audience, and think beyond the lab/classroom.
 Once you’ve completed these steps as you perform the experiment,
you’ll be in a good position to draft an effective lab report.

Title:
 A title should be short and concise but comprehensive.
 You can use a title while working on the report but choose the final
title when the work is ready.
 A good title is brief but informative, and says exactly what your
paper is about.
 You can choose 3-4 key words and construct a headline containing
those words.

Abstract:
 You should present a summary of the most important results.
 Normally nothing is mentioned about localities or methods in
the abstract and absolutely no discussion but one sentence on
how the results are interpreted.
 It should be short around 150 words.
 A reader should be able to grasp the full scope and
significance of the work reported without having to read the
entire report.

 Too much background or methods information
 Figures or images
 References to other literature, figures or images
 Abbreviations or acronyms

Introduction:
The introduction should contain four basic elements:
 The purpose (objective).
 The scientific literature relevant to the subject (background).
 The hypothesis.
 The reasons you believed your hypothesis viable.

So, the introduction should answer these questions:
 What is the nature of the study?
 What is the objective of the study?
 What background information is necessary for the reader?
 What particular method was used to conduct the study?Why?
 Too much or not enough information.
 Unclear purpose.
 Confusing structure.

How do I write a strong Materials and
Methods section?
•The methods section should fulfills the readers’ expectations.
 How much detail? Be precise in providing details, but stay relevant.
 Rationale: Be sure that as you’re relating your actions during the
experiment, you explain your rationale for the protocol you developed.
 Control: Most experiments will include a control, which is a means of
comparing experimental results.
Two things are especially important in writing about the
control:
1. Identify the control as a control.
2. Explain what you’re controlling for.

Results:
 Your Materials and Methods section shows how you obtained
the results, and your Discussion section explores the
significance of the results, so clearly the Results section
forms the backbone of the lab report.
 This section provides the most critical information about
your experiment. But it doesn’t provide anything else, which
explains why this section is generally shorter than the others.
 Most Results sections feature three distinct parts: text,
tables, and figures.

How to Design Effective Tables
and Figures
• Tables:
 An effective way to present repetitive results is to use Tables
and Figures.
 An effective table allows the reader to grasp the information
clear enough to make the meaning of the results understandable
without reference to a text.
 A table may be useful in presenting operating conditions in the
Materials and Methods section. This is effective because it is
clearer to read from a table than from the text.
 A table may be useful for presenting properties for chemicals
or reagents used in your experiment

Continue..
• Figures:
 Figures are used when clarity and conciseness are required
and because certain types of data are more effective if they
are presented in figures, such as graphs.
 Figure is effective for the Materials and Methods section to
describe a the principle of a new instruments.
 Figures is effective for the Materials and Methods section to
make a flow diagrams of the work plan.

 Raw data
 Redundancy
 Discussion and interpretation of data
 No figures or tables
 Methods/materials reported

How do I write a strong Discussion section
 Basically, the Discussion contains several parts, in no particular order,
but roughly moving from specific (i.e., related to your experiment
only) to general (how your findings fit in the larger scientific
community).
 In this section, you will, as a rule, need to:
 Explain whether the data support your hypothesis.
 Acknowledge any anomalous data or deviations from what you expected.
 Derive conclusions, based on your findings, about the process you’re studying.
 Relate your findings to earlier work in the same area (if you can).
 Explore the theoretical and/or practical implications of your findings.
 Suggestions for improvement and future research?

References:
List of works used to write the lab report.
References are generally arranged in alphabetical order by
the authors’ last names, but this will depend on which
citation style your teacher wants you to use.

Format
o Certain general rules are commonly followed in scientific
writing.
 Flow: Readers interpret prose more easily when it flows smoothly,
from background to rationale to conclusion. Don’t force the reader to
figure out your logic.
 Abbreviations: Use standard abbreviations (hr, min, sec, etc) instead
of writing complete words. Define all other abbreviations the first time
they are used, then subsequently use the abbreviation.
o As a general rule, do not use an abbreviation unless a term is used at
least three times in the manuscript.

Continue..
 Past, present, and future tense:
 Results described in your report should be described in past tense
(you’ve done these experiments, but your results are not yet accepted
“facts”).
 Results from published papers should be described in the present tense
(based upon the assumption that published results are “facts”).
 Only experiments that you plan to do in the future should be described
in the future tense.
 Proofreading: Always spell-check your report and carefully proofread
it before submission.

"Write with precision, clarity and economy. Every
sentence should convey the exact truth as simply as
possible."
Instructions to Authors
Ecology 1964

How to write_the_scientific_report.ppt_2

How to write_the_scientific_report.ppt_2

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